but each time washington makes hint at this, we hear from arab backers who quite explicitly said today that if the eu or u.s. cut any of their aid to egypt, they will make up the difference and that, of course, is going to insulate for any action but part of the relationship is about prestige. the egyptian army will be unwilling to jeopardize that. >> amidst all of this turmoil, has there been a lot of reaction or any reaction to the idea that hosni mubarak would be a free man any day now? >> reporter: that came from his lawyer. it was his lawyer saying as many attorneys would do for their client, that he thinks he can be out in a few weeks because the corruption charges against him were dropped. there's still a retrial set for accusations that he committed violence in 2011. also other corruption charges on the books, too. we saw a lot of noise in the state media about potential for him to be released but in reality that's far off. this is a distraction from the problems on the street and the administration really has to get the rein and potentially making them seen as more viable. >>